TEN memorable moments from Arsenal v Liverpool

Arsenal face Liverpool on Sunday in a mouthwatering top-of-the-table encounter at Emirates Stadium.

The rivalry has featured countless unforgettable matches, goals, incidents, players and managers.

Here football writer Adrian Kajumba selects 10 of the most memorable moments from this fixture.

Robbie Fowler's record hat-trick - August 1994

Arsenal were one of Robbie Fowler’s favourite opponents during his career and his impressive record against them all began on one sunny historic Anfield afternoon in 1994.

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This was the day a young Fowler really announced himself to the Premier League by setting a record for the division’s quickest hat-trick ever, in only four minutes and 33 seconds, against an Arsenal defence of Lee Dixon, Martin Keown, Tony Adams and Nigel Winterburn that he described as “legendary.” 

“They did this montage on my goals before the kick-off [on TV], and said Arsenal had to watch me carefully,” Fowler said in his autobiography. “Clearly they couldn’t have been taking notice!”

Fowler's hat-trick v Arsenal

It was also around this time that Fowler remembers that his nickname "God" really began to stick.

And for over 20 years his record remained intact until Sadio Mane finally broke it, with a treble in just two minutes and 56 seconds for Southampton against Aston Villa in May 2015.

Fowler went on to make it seven goals in only three matches against Arsenal, netting the winner in the 1994/95 return at Highbury and, remarkably, another hat-trick when Arsenal visited the following season. 

He let them off lightly on this occasion though, needing 38 minutes for his three goals. 

In total, Fowler scored 14 times against Arsenal in all competitions, a tally he only equalled against Villa.

Henry has Carragher in a spin at - April 2004

For a period, around Arsenal’s "Invincibles" era, it appeared that Thierry Henry had a vendetta against Jamie Carragher - and one solo Highbury goal during Arsenal’s unbeaten 2003/04 season helped fuel that sense.

Henry collected the ball just inside Liverpool’s half, beat Dietmar Hamann and then sent Carragher spinning and tumbling into one of his team-mates before firing past Jerzy Dudek.

Having trailed 2-1 at half-time, Henry’s wonder goal made it 3-2 and was the second strike of his eventual hat-trick, as Arsenal survived one of the genuine threats to their unbeaten record that season.

Henry's goal v Liverpool

Henry seemed to take particular delight in toying with Carragher for a spell, with a couple of other jet-heeled runs from the Frenchman which left the defender trailing in his wake also memorable from their battles.

And it is no surprise Carragher puts Henry on a pedestal.

“[Henry is] the greatest Premier League player of all time and certainly my toughest opponent," he said.

 “When Thierry Henry hit top gear and ran past you it was like trying to chase after someone on a motorbike.”

Neil Mellor's last-gasp winner - November 2004

Neil Mellor only made 22 appearances for Liverpool, but still enjoyed his fair share of unforgettable moments.

As well as a goal and the all-important knockdown for Steven Gerrard’s screamer in Liverpool’s iconic UEFA Champions League comeback against Olympiacos en route to their 2005 triumph, Mellor also scored his glorious winning goal two minutes into added time against Arsenal 10 days earlier.

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The Gunners had suffered just one Premier League defeat to Manchester United since their title-winning Invincibles campaign the previous season. Liverpool, meanwhile, were depleted and had the inexperienced Mellor and Florent Sinama-Pongolle in attack.

But Mellor proved to be the hero in the most spectacular and dramatic fashion. 

He was quickest to react when Sol Campbell could only partially clear Chris Kirkland’s long free-kick and smashed a brilliant, first-time volley past Jens Lehmann before being mobbed by his team-mates in front of the Kop.

Mellor's goal v Arsenal

For a Liverpool academy product, it was the stuff of dreams.

Mellor said: “I'd have loved to have had a lot more moments and played a lot more games and won a lot more trophies, but it was a special moment that I got to share with the Kop.

“Fans still come up to me now and tell me where they were and how they remember that goal. It's nice to hear those stories." 

Peter Crouch's perfect hat-trick - March 2007

After starting his Liverpool career with an 18-match goal drought that had many questioning the decision to sign him from Southampton, Peter Crouch went on to earn cult hero status at Anfield.

And it is for performances like his in this 4-1 win against Arsenal that he is fondly remembered.

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On his return from an operation after breaking his nose, Crouch netted the perfect hat-trick - right foot, left foot and header - and maiden treble of his club career.

His first goal was a near-post poacher’s finish poked in with his right foot before adding his second with a soaring header.

Crouch's hat-trick goal, a left-foot finish in front of the Kop after a brilliant touch and piece of skill to beat Kolo Toure, was one of a number in Crouch’s catalogue that underlined there was far more to the 6ft 7in striker’s game than his height.

He scored 18 goals in total that season, finishing his second campaign as Liverpool’s top scorer. Not bad at all given how his Anfield career had started.

Crouch's perfect hat-trick

Arshavin's four-goal haul - April 2009

The defining image of Andrey Arshavin wheeling away in celebration, four fingers aloft, a mixture of joy and disbelief on his face, is among the most memorable from this fixture’s Premier League history.

Arshavin, a breakout star at Euro 2008 who joined Arsenal for a reported club record £15million in February 2009, enjoyed a night when literally everything he touched turned to goals.

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The diminutive Russian forward had all four of Arsenal’s shots on target that night and scored with each one, securing his place in club folklore.

If there is one frustration from the night it is that Arshavin’s fourth goal, which came after 90 minutes, was cancelled out by Liverpool’s Yossi Benayoun, as a barely believable game in which Arsenal led 1-0 at half-time finished 4-4.

Another might be that he no longer has the signed match ball. “My former wife took it and kept it for herself,” he told The Athletic earlier this year. 

But he will always have the memories and get recognition.

"The four goals against Liverpool made me known all over the world,” said Arshavin. 

“Even to this day when I go somewhere and people recognise me, it’s from that match.”

Dirk Kuyt's record-breaking late equaliser - April 2011

Another Premier League record set in this fixture - and that also stood for over a decade - came from Dirk Kuyt. 

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Arsenal must have thought they had secured all three points when Robin van Persie rolled in a penalty in the eighth minute of added time in a game extended following an injury to Carragher. 

But there was still time for more drama when Liverpool got a spot-kick of their own after Emmanuel Eboue fouled Lucas Leiva and Kuyt kept his cool to earn Kenny Dalglish’s side a point with the very last kick of the game. 

Kuyt’s goal was timed at 101 minutes and 48 seconds and it remained the latest Premier League goal ever until January this year, when Oli McBurnie equalised for Sheffield United against West Ham United after 102 minutes and seven seconds.

Arsenal's bid for Luis Suarez - summer 2013

Arsenal’s attempt to sign Luis Suarez from Liverpool will go down as one of the Premier League’s most infamous transfer sagas, in part because it did not result in a move.

Initially though, Arsenal were hopeful. A year after selling their own star striker Van Persie to Man Utd, they made an audacious move for Liverpool’s. 

Unsettled at the time following Liverpool’s failure to qualify for Europe, Suarez was keen to leave Anfield after scoring 47 goals in the previous two seasons. 

With Arsenal able to offer Champions League football and initially believing a fee over £40m would get a deal done, they reportedly offered £40m plus £1. 

An infamous post on John Henry’s then Twitter account read: “What do you think they're smoking over there at Emirates?"

According to then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger in his book My Life in Red and White: “I found out that his clause never existed.”

The much-talked about offer, he explained, was only then made to confirm there was no magic number.

Suarez ended up staying at Liverpool for one more season, scoring 31 Premier League goals to win a string of individual honours, including the Premier League Golden Boot and Player of the Season award, before joining Barcelona.

Sadio Mane's debut goal - August 2016

Both the goal and celebration were memorable on this occasion as Sadio Mane introduced himself to his new Liverpool fans in some style at Emirates Stadium.

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In a seven-goal thriller, summer signing Mane’s strike was the pick of the bunch as he latched on to a ball down the right, burst past Calum Chambers and cut inside Nacho Monreal before bending a finish into the top corner with his weaker left foot when he was actually heading away from goal.

Mane then made a beeline for manager Jurgen Klopp, who turned around and gave his new star a piggy back before breaking away from his celebrating players, with a look of amazement across his face.

It was far from the last time Mane produced the spectacular for Liverpool, as he went on to score 119 more goals for the club, with 89 in the Premier League. Mane proved to be one of the best signings of the Klopp era, and a third of one of the standout attacking trios in the division’s history, alongside Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. 

Arteta playing 'You’ll Never Walk Alone' at training ahead of Anfield trip - November 2021

Anfield’s hostile atmosphere is famous and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that the only time he was left feeling "helpless" in his playing career came at Liverpool.

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So he came up with “one of my crazy ideas” in a bid to prepare his young side for their 2021 visit to Merseyside.

Arteta had speakers blazing out Liverpool’s anthem "You’ll Never Walk Alone" placed next to one of Arsenal’s training pitches as his players were put through their paces.

“Mentally we start the game now,” Arteta told his squad when the session began. “We are at Anfield."

Having failed to win on any of their previous eight visits, something special was needed to end Arsenal’s hoodoo. 

However, Arteta’s attempt to replicate the Anfield atmosphere, revealed on Amazon’s All or Nothing fly-on-the-wall documentary series, did not have the desired effect, as Liverpool blew Arsenal away 4-0.

Later defending his opinion-splitting experiment, Arteta said: “You cannot train the players in the zoo and then go to the jungle. It’s impossible.”

Ramsdale's heroics in epic draw - April 2023

Arsenal have not won at Anfield in the Premier League since September 2012 and for a long part of this trip they looked as likely as they ever have to end that sequence.

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But this turned out to be a rollercoaster encounter which they ended fortunate not to lose - and indebted to goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale for some late heroics - as they escaped with a point. 

Early goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus had left Arsenal daring to dream. 

But a flashpoint between Granit Xhaka and Trent Alexander-Arnold sparked the crowd and Liverpool into life, before Salah halved the deficit ahead of half-time.

Arsenal had an escape when Salah then missed a second-half penalty, but Firmino extinguished their victory hopes with an 87th-minute header. Indeed, only stunning Ramsdale saves from Salah and Ibrahima Konate at the death prevented the damage being even worse. 

This was a genuine classic in the history of the fixture, though that would have been little consolation to Arsenal. 

It proved to be the first of three successive damaging draws for Arteta’s side, including one at West Ham the following week, when they also squandered a 2-0 lead. It also started a four-match winless streak in which their six-point post-Anfield lead was wiped out as Arsenal were overtaken by eventual champions Manchester City during the run-in.